Roof joist with connectors, is it safe to board?

[Tattie1337]

Hello, I had planned to put down 18 mm loft boarding and whilst trying to figure out if I should stagger my joint as in the first picture, or have them meet at the middle of the join, I noticed the joist is connected by a metal plate.

This is making me question if I should loft the ceiling space in my garage at all. I'd appreciate some thoughts on the matter.

 

[DAZB]

Given the spans you are dealing with you will be ok to board it out but obviously do not overload it and make sure you distribute the weight evenly. You also need to aim for getting the joints of your boards to the centre of each joist, especially if they are straight edged like your image although it you use tongue and grooved flooring then it is not as critical.

 

[Tattie1337]

Given the spans you are dealing with you will be ok to board it out but obviously do not overload it and make sure you distribute the weight evenly. You also need to aim for getting the joints of your boards to the centre of each joist, especially if they are straight edged like your image although it you use tongue and grooved flooring then it is not as critical.

How do I know what is over loading? The plan is for storing all my kids stuff, so toys and clothes and Xmas decorations. So I'm assuming that's quite light.